Court set March 25 for ruling on legal objection against Abu Trica's extradition

A ruling is expected on 25 March in the extradition proceedings involving Frederick Kumi, also known as Abu Trica, after the Gbese District Court heard a preliminary objection from his lawyers.

The objection goes to the heart of the case, with the defence arguing that the legal basis for sending him to the United States is flawed.

US authorities are seeking Abu Trica’s extradition over allegations including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

But his legal team, led by Oliver Barker Vormawor, told the court that those offences do not fall within the terms of the 1931 extradition treaty between Ghana and the United States.

According to the defence, the treaty does not specifically identify wire fraud or money laundering as extraditable offences.

They also argued that the conspiracy provisions in the treaty apply only to limited categories of offences and do not extend to the counts now being relied on by the requesting state.

On that basis, the lawyers contend that the extradition request cannot lawfully proceed under the existing treaty framework.

They further submitted that Ghana cannot use later domestic legislation to enlarge the scope of obligations created by the original bilateral agreement.

In their view, any extradition process must be strictly tied to the exact terms agreed by both countries under the treaty itself.

The proceedings attracted public interest, with a group of young people from Swedru gathering outside the court and calling for Abu Trica’s release.

The court is now expected to decide on Wednesday, 25 March, whether the objection succeeds or whether the extradition matter should continue.